Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to start with two quotes.
The first one is:
Advancements in communications technology have allowed downsizing and increased efficiencies in the private sector that must also be realized by the government.
The second quote is:
With provincial governments having jurisdiction over many of the functions performed by the central governments in other countries, there is no rationale for our constituencies to have only a fraction of the population common to electoral jurisdictions in other democracies.
I'm quoting a young member of Parliament in 1994, and I think he was right. After that, I had a very successful career.
I want to address the comparisons that have been made with England.
Professor Franks, if you don't take into account Scotland and Wales, England is a centralist government; members there have all the responsibilities of an MLA and an MP together. Despite that, they've recently decided to decrease their size by 50 seats—or at least it is under discussion.
I would like to draw the attention of my colleagues to a recent study published in October by Professors Thomas, Loewen, and MacKenzie, comparing the quality of representation in Canada and the United Kingdom. There is no more satisfaction on the part of the people regarding the working of democracy from having more MPs.
I know we think we are overloaded, but if you add 30 seats, you will be overloaded anyway. It's part of political life. And professors are also overloaded. I have been one of them.